


Not your sacrifice

by TwurtleEggy



Series: Ori, but a little to the left [5]
Category: Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Genre: Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, If Sein's dignity gets murdered is it a major character death, Life Debt, Naru best mom, Picnics, Picnics is still the good stuff, Resurrection kind of, Screw Destiny, Spoilers, interpretation of the spirit link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23709985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwurtleEggy/pseuds/TwurtleEggy
Summary: Nothing is set in stone. Especially not when you have a giant owl for an aunt.
Relationships: Ori & Everyone (Ori and the Blind Forest), Sein & Kuro (Ori and the Blind Forest)
Series: Ori, but a little to the left [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709002
Comments: 32
Kudos: 67





	1. Repayment

**Author's Note:**

> Ku: Hey mom Ori's a tree now  
> Kuro: He's a W H A T

When Ku, Naru, and Gumo returned to Nibel without Ori, Kuro was suspicious. Their reason for him staying behind being 'he had something he had to do' only made her certain that something had happened to him. As such, she asked Ku the moment the two of them started flying back to the nest.

"Oh, um, he turned into a tree."

Kuro blinked.

A tree.

Ori had turned into a _tree._

"Ku," she began, her voice as soft as possible, in an attempt to hide the panic bubbling in her stomach. "I understand that you might want to make his little journey of saving Niwen seem more incredible, but I need you to be serious."

"But I _am_ being serious! He was traveling with some orb that looked kinda like Sein but sorta yellow, and then Ori fought a really scary looking owl named Shriek, and then we found the orb and a little tree, and the orb said Ori was the tree!"

Oh, this wasn't good. Who was Shriek, and why did Ori apparently turn into a tree right after fighting them? Had he gotten hurt? Was this that strange orb's doing? Actually, this explained why Naru and Gumo had been so hesitant to talk about what happened to Ori; Gumo probably didn't want to stir up fresh bad memories in Naru, and Kuro's fellow mother(and self-appointed therapist) was likely still in some level of shock. After all, she would never be able to see her baby's smile ever again.

Wait a minute.

Ori was a _tree._ He also loved exploring the forest, which he would no longer be able to do, since he was a tree. He loved talking with his loved ones, which he wouldn't be able to properly do any more, since he was a tree. He was probably permanently stuck with someone he barely knew, since Kuro was willing to bet that the orb was Niwen's equivalent of Sein.

Wait.

_Sein._

* * *

"Their name is Seir, and I pretty much guarantee that they were at least involved in Ori's supposed transformation."

"Seir," Kuro said, rolling the name around in her beak. "Why is their name so much like yours?"

"Just a theme."

Kuro was currently flying to Niwen with Sein held (lightly) in her left talon. Once she had gone to the Spirit Tree and explained what had supposedly happened to Ori, the light orb was quick to get everything in order so they could spare a couple days to go with her to Niwen in an attempt to try and save Ori. No matter how much work they knew they would have to deal with upon getting back, they knew it was worth it. Ori was their friend, not to mention the debt they owed him. He had insisted that they didn't owe him, but that didn't matter now that he was a tree.

As the two approached Niwen, they were quick to notice the massive remains of the once glorious Spirit Willow, torn apart as if some sort of wicked battle had occurred near it. Kuro stared at the dead tree, knowing that this must have been where the mysterious Shriek met defeat at the hands of the forests' hero. They were close.

"I can feel Seir's presence, let me guide the rest of the way."

She let Sein go, and the small ball of light zipped downwards. Following them, the two eventually reached a lone, little tree in a small clearing. Its' branches were split to its' sides, and a golden, glowing sphere sat in the middle.

"Sein, it has been a very long time. Who is this that has followed you here?" Its' voice was similar to the blue orb's, she noted, though it seemed to hold a bit more authority in its' tone. She'd heard one sentence and already didn't like the new orb.

"Yeah, hi to you too." Good to know the feeling wasn't exclusive to her.

Seir seemed to pause for a moment, as if contemplating something. "Are... you alright? You seem unusually aggressive."

The blue ball of light took a moment to collect their thoughts, realizing that being confrontational probably wouldn't make this easier. They had to keep their cool and talk this out. "My apologies, we've come looking for a friend of ours; his name is Ori. You wouldn't happen to have seen him, have you?" The golden orb gave off a delighted hum, and Kuro got the sudden feeling that they weren't exactly thinking about what they were about to say.

"Ah, the destined one. As you can see, he has ascended, and is untouched."

Both owl and spirit orb alike looked down to the tree that they now had definite conformation as being Ori. "Seir, how in the world is being turned into a tree considered 'untouched'?"

"A Spirit Tree, Sein. This is what was meant to occur; he has simply reached where and what he is meant to be. I do not see why you are not happy for him." Kuro felt a familiar rage begin to bubble up through herself. How _dare_ this callous little-

"You think we should be _happy_ about this? Are you out of your mind? Do you even know who you're talking about?" And Sein beat her to the punch. Probably for the best.

"Of course I know who I am talking about. The Spirit-"

"Quiet." Yeah, she wasn't expecting that. Sein's usual attitude of near constant concern for all living things seemed to have properly vanished this time, and in its place was a venom that Kuro was confident could probably make practically anything quake with fear. _Practically_ anything, as Seir seemed more curious than anything at their fellow's aggression. "Let me talk to him."

Hesitantly, they moved out of their spot from on top of Ori. Sein quickly moved to replace them, and seemed to lull out of consciousness; probably talking with the spirit guardian. Well then, might as well try and make small talk while they do their job. "My apologies for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Kuro."

"...Well met." _Alright chatty, guess we're doing this the hard way._

"My child told me a bit about you. They said you traveled through Niwen with Ori?"

"Please just get to the point Ms. Kuro. I would like to finish up this little reunion as quickly as possible. There is still much I have to teach the young Spirit Tree of his responsibility." Kuro gave a kind smile, but was internally scowling. This stupid brat hadn't used his name once throughout their conversation. Did it even remember his name?

"...Would you like to know of Ori's family?" Before the comparatively insignificant light could respond, she began. "First is his adoptive mother, Naru. She's the sweetest creature in all of Nibel, probably doesn't have a bad bone in her entire body. Not to mention that she's basically the entire forest's unofficial therapist; she has such a deep understanding of losing those one loves, it's almost suspicious."

"Then we have Gumo, who-well quite frankly, I don't know _where_ he fits, but he's definitely family. Quite the craftsman, that one; always coming up with new little inventions to help with everyone's lives. Of course, any invention pales in comparison to his greatest achievement of reviving Naru." They turned upward, curiosity momentarily replacing their discomfort. "Ah, yes. Naru actually perished to starvation towards the end of the decay's stay in Nibel. And she never even got to give Ori a final goodbye. They are both quite fortunate Gumo found her." She lowered her head slightly, getting a little closer to Seir in the process. "Really, it's quite the pity that his kind can never congratulate him for his heroics."

"...What do you mean?" A sinister look passed over Kuro's eyes, before she quickly hid it. Curiosity was such an easy trait to exploit.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" The sinister look resurfaced, though this time it seemed even stronger. "Gumo is the last of his kind. All the other Gumon died in the decay, frozen within the Forlorn Ruins. Ori actually had to go through the place to cleanse one of Nibel's elements." Seir shivered a bit, and Kuro could tell they would likely be stuck on that particular bit of information for a while. Serves them right, bringing someone to the fate they have brought upon Ori.

Seir eventually seemed to relax again, and Kuro took it as her time to continue her little... history lesson. "As for siblings, he of course has the other Spirit Guardians born from Nibel's Spirit Tree, and I sometimes swear that my darling little Ku acts like the two are twins. It's rather cute, to be honest." There the orb went, squirming again. "I suppose on the topic of my children, they look up to Ori like an older cousin. You _do_ know what a cousin is, yes?"

"I'm afraid I don't."

"Ah, never mind, it's not important anyway." They began to vibrate harder in annoyance. Perfect. "All you need to know is that they look up to Ori. If he wasn't practically constantly telling them not to go running off to play hero, I'm sure one of them may have come and tried to save Niwen." Which, being that they're still not quite adults, that probably wouldn't end well. "I hope they don't try to come and uproot Ori." 

Seir looked to her, and their voiced dripped with irritation. "Are you implying that I am some kind of villain?" 

She simply laughed, showing the light just how much smaller than her beak they were. "Oh, no no no! I'm simply concerned that they might _think_ you're a villain of sorts. After all, they're still children. They don't understand that some things are simply meant to happen." Alright, use their own words against them was checked off the list. What next?

"Of course, we can't forget Nibel's own Spirit Tree." The irresponsible fool. "He's certainly something. Cares so much for all of his children, sometimes too much. He's been prone to making quite foolish, and often quite destructive mistakes when it comes to his children's happiness and safety." One more should do it.

"And last but not least, there's me."

"And how did _you,_ a creature of darkness, fit into the family of a _Spirit Guardian?"_ Oh, this poor, poor fool.

"Seir, Naru and Gumo are both creatures of darkness as well." They recoiled in shock, and Kuro could practically smell the disbelief coming off them. "It's true. Honestly, they're both probably closer to Ori than the Spirit Tree is, seeing as he lives with them instead of him." They looked like they were about to say something, but Kuro was not a particularly merciful creature when it came to family.

"As I was saying, I am the last member of Ori's little family. I don't truly know how I fit in, but I like to think it's somewhere close to him. Of course, that's not saying much, seeing as how much love he holds in his poor little heart."

"... And where would Sein fit? I do not see any other reason they would come." Oh, she had not been expecting _that._ Though, now that she thought about it...

"I'm not quite certain _anyone_ knows just how those two fit together. On the surface it seems like they're just close friends, brought together by unfortunate circumstances. Naru, however, is quite certain that Sein has feelings for Ori. Not that the little light would ever admit it, of course; they're _far_ too nervous to try."

"I... was not aware they were romantically involved with each other." 

"That's... not what I said. They're not 'romantically involved with each other', Naru just thinks Sein _wants_ to be romantically involved with Ori. Personally, I think it's just a crush; Ori's pretty much Sein's only friend, and he did save their life during the blindness."

The light remained silent while they processed everything Kuro had said, and the owl took it as an opportunity to simply sit back and relax. Despite the rather tense atmosphere and massive torn up tree in the center, she had to admit that even just what she could see right now was rather beautiful. No wonder Ori had so desperately wished to save this place.

"Ms. Kuro." She looked upward as Seir floated up to be at eye level with her. "I... apologize for how I have acted regarding your friend. I had... not been aware how many within Nibel counted on him." Obviously, orb. "However, I must ask... I assume that you have come here to bring Ori back to his home, yet I do not understand how you plan to accomplish this."

"Well, neither do I, but Sein seemed confident on the way here that there was _something_ they would be able to do, so I'm just holding on to hope."

"...I understand. You must have quite a lot of faith in them."

"I suppose so."

The tree suddenly glowed dimly, and the two turned to look at it. The glow slowly yet surely began to intensify, until Kuro was forced to back up lest it hurt her. The light eventually began to coalesce, starting off as a vague blob and slowly compressing into a familiar form. The tree still stood, and in front of it stood Ori's previous body, its light dimming to a more manageable level. Ori took a deep breath in, then let it out.

And promptly fell flat on his face. Kuro walked up to him, lightly poking him. When he didn't respond, she flipped him over onto his back. Quickly examining his body, she found that, aside from a slightly dimmer light than usual alongside a large amount of scratches and bruises that she figured were the fault of the still mysterious Shriek, everything seemed to be in order. It really was Ori.

Seir and Sein both floated over, both looking down at the... resurrected? Reborn? Remade? ...the Spirit Guardian. Seir's glow brightened slightly. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah, he's fine." Sein said. "He's just really exhausted, and drained of pretty much all his light. The Spirit Tree should be fine, but don't hesitate to send a messenger if something seems wrong." 

"Right. If I may ask, how exactly did you do this? I've heard of spirits having abilities that can save them from the brink of death and that Ori's is one of them, but he wasn't dead."

"Oh, right. Um, Ori's Spirit Link doesn't actually save him from the brink of death. It just uses light to recreate a memory of his body, then transfers his light and consciousness and stuff into the new body."

"...You mean to tell me. That every time he's messed up on something and ended up fatally harmed from it. He actually _died."_

Kuro groaned. "Please, list _one_ other thing that they could have _possibly_ meant. That was sarcasm, don't actually answer that." Seir huffed, and, if they had arms, probably would have crossed them.

"Stop fighting you two." Sein grumbled. "Kuro, we should get going. The Spirit Tree's light will start to strain if I don't return." Kuro hummed in acknowledgement. "Seir, thank you for cooperating. As I said, please don't hesitate if something goes wrong with the Spirit Tree." The golden orb's glow intensified a bit alongside a hum.

With their business done and farewells said, Kuro picked up Sein in her left talon and Ori in her right. She made sure that she wasn't gripping them too tightly, then took off into the sky, soaring off towards Nibel. Their return journey started off silent, yet Kuro couldn't help a nagging feeling in her head. She understood that the Spirit Link had been used to recreate Ori's body, yet... "Sein, doesn't the Spirit Tree need light to function? How is it going to do its job if it doesn't have any light to use?"

Sein was silent for a few seconds, but eventually seemed to muster up enough courage to respond. "We... didn't move all of the light Ori had. We left behind the light from all the Niwenian ancestral trees he had absorbed." That made sense to her, but she knew that couldn't possibly be it.

"And?"

Another long period of silence. Kuro knew that this was uncomfortable for the light, but it was necessary if Ori was to properly regain his strength. "...We also left behind a large portion of Ori's personal light, along with all of the light enhancements that the Spirit Link had provided his skills."

"And the consequences of leaving behind so much of his personal light are?"

"Mostly just severe exhaustion for a few days... and an extreme weakening to the Spirit Link. He'll have a lot more trouble forming them, and they'll be much less effective."

"Right, so we just have to make sure that he gets lots of rest for the next few days, and we need to keep him out of trouble more. Sounds... relatively easy."

Sein snorted(somehow). "I'm mostly concerned about how we're going to explain this to Naru... and the Spirit Tree."

"...Oh no."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some credit, because I completely forgot to put it at first.  
> The whole "putting light in the spirit tree instead of Ori" thing was based off saratogaroad's "world keeps spinnin'". I know it probably seems like pretty much the same thing, but there's going to be a (hopefully) significant difference that gets introduced in chapter 2. The spirit link interpretation was based off of Ihc's interpretation in "100 Themes of the Blind Forest", and once again it seems like the same thing but will have a (hopefully) significant difference that will be introduced in chapter 2.


	2. Complication and collection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A problem emerges, yet our heroes manage to get lucky (for once).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold Kuro, simultaneously the most and least mature of Nibel's residents.

At Sein's insistence, Kuro's first stop was the Spirit Tree, instead of Swallow's Nest as she would have expected.

"It's just for a checkup," they said. "I just want to make sure there aren't any problems I didn't know about." Which was fair, she said, but shouldn't they have done that _before_ going to Niwen? "...Yeah, probably."

Kuro sighed. Of course. "Tell me Sein, is acting without thinking something all creatures of light do, or am I just unlucky?" She got a (weak) spirit flame to the face for that. Totally worth it.

Approaching the Spirit Tree, Kuro felt the familiar tingle of light against her body, knowing she'd have to be in and out as quickly as possible. She went up to the top of the tree where she knew Sein's seat thingy was, and placed Ori in front of said seat thingy before turning around and shooting away from the tree.

From her place in the sky she was unable to tell just what Sein and the tree were doing, but figured that it probably wasn't too important. After all, it was just a checkup.

Soon enough, Sein shot up to her... though, the light seemed... nervous almost. "Sein, I assume that everything is fine, yes?"

"Um... well, Kuro-"

"Sein," she snapped. "If anything is wrong with Ori, I am going to turn you into a fine powder."

"Alright, alright, please don't! There is one problem, but I don't think there was any way we could have avoided it."

"And what, Sein, is that?" Kuro was already on her last nerve. She just wanted her friend to be safe, and to go home and be with her babies. Was that truly too much to ask?

"...You remember how I said that Ori left a lot of his personal light with the Spirit Tree in Niwen, right?" She nodded. "You also know that the Spirit Link works by-"

"I know how the Spirit Link works."

"Right, right, well basically the Spirit Link wouldn't normally be able to transfer Ori's memories to his new body, since it's moving his-well, his soul, not his brain, so, um, the Spirit Link maaaay have made it so that Ori's memories are actually stored in his light, so that they can be moved to the new body."

Kuro hummed lightly, the fury in her eyes slowly growing. "So, his memories are in his light."

"Yes."

"And most of his light is in the Spirit Tree in Niwen."

"...yes."

"So what you're saying is that Ori _doesn't have most of his memories."_

"...yes?"

"...Sein, if there's not a solution to this, I'm going to destroy you."

"Fair, but you're not going to have to because there actually is a solution! The point of memories within a Spirit Tree is that they allow the tree to be more in tune with the different kinds of magic around them, which is necessary when it comes to maintaining things like Nibel's elements, and just generally making sure that the magic in the air doesn't make weird stuff happen. In order to safely take out Ori's memories, were going to need a large amount of fire magic, wind magic, water magic, and light magic, all of which we have in surplus here in Nibel!"

Happiness spread into Kuro's eyes, though she couldn't help but feel nervous. This seemed _far_ too easy.

* * *

"Why is it taking so long?"

"Sein, please have a little more patience," the Spirit Tree rumbled, concentrating his light into the nearby Spirit Well, which then poured up into a large cauldron Kuro had brought over from Swallow's Nest. "I understand that you are worried about Ori, but pouring out too much light at once would simply harm Kuro."

"And in case you didn't realize," Kuro said with a growl, a stray bit of light hissing against her feathers. "I don't want to be incinerated." The orb squeaked out an apology and focused back in on the light. Eventually, the cauldron was entirely filled, and a pair of Spirit Guardians dragged the lid under it to be reattached.

"I wish you two the best of luck." The Spirit Tree spoke. "Please be careful; I understand that you want this to be over as soon as possible, but I must advise against anything that may bring either of you harm." Sein and Kuro both hummed in conformation, before rising into the air, the cauldron held firmly in Kuro's talons.

"He seems to have mellowed out nicely," Kuro mused. "I honestly expected to meet quite a lot of resistance."

"Yeah, ever since the blindness ended he's gotten a lot better at thinking before acting. Though, Ori being in any level of danger did _probably_ help us."

"Of course it did."

* * *

"I forgot how hot it is here." They had been at the element of warmth for less than three minutes, and Kuro was getting seriously concerned she was going to come down with heatstroke. Or maybe that was just the phantom pains. At any rate, who in their right mind thought a _volcano_ of all places was a good place to put something so important?

"Good thing we're done," Sein said, maneuvering a last bit of glowing red gas into the cauldron, where it seemed to be mixing itself with the light magic. Sein stared in slight marvel at the swirling mass off magic. "I forgot it did that. Neat."

"Yeah yeah, cool light show and whatever," Kuro said, impatience leaking into her speech. "Now can we just go already? I feel like I'm about to burst into flames." Sein laughed at her growing discomfort, but switched to giving a terrified shriek as Kuro suddenly snatched them up with her beak and began flying towards the water element.

* * *

"Hey Sein?" A small hum. "Do you think the Ginso Tree might have been some sort of water Spirit Guardian once?"

"I can tell you for a fact that it wasn't," they said. "Though, that would be pretty cool."

The two sat in comfortable silence as the liquid-like water magic trickled into the cauldron, mixing automatically just as the fire magic had. "Hey Kuro, does Tok still have that one rock? The one that had some water magic in it?"

"Why yes, actually." Her feathers puffed up, and she stood a bit taller, always happy to talk about her children. "He's been trying to find some sort of use for it, but it's so weak that it doesn't really have any practical uses around the nest; other than making a mess, of course." Sein laughed, and Kuro was suddenly reminded of just how far they had both come. During the blindness, she never would have even fathomed that she would possibly have any sort of civil conversation with the orb. Now here the two were, going out of their way to work together towards a common goal.

Kuro couldn't help but smile. Things were more peaceful now, she realized-safer. Of course, the forest had never been a particularly dangerous place for her. She did, however, find that it was quite nice to know that, if her children wandered off, there was a good chance there would be someone nearby willing to help.

The light wasn't as bad as she had first thought. Even if it was a little stupid.

* * *

The Forlorn Ruins and the element of winds it housed were the duo's last stop before they could go to Niwen and retrieve Ori's lost memories. Kuro had left Sein and the cauldron at the element, before maneuvering her way through the tight tunnels and up to her nest. The four owlets all gave cries of joy upon seeing their mother. Kuro responded with a soft coo, then began checking through everything while explaining to her kids that she would have to be gone for just a bit longer, no they could not come with her, yes they should go to Swallow's Nest if something bad happens. She finished her check, noting happily that they still had enough food to last the kids until she got home from this seemingly never-ending trip. 

She nuzzled each of her kids, said goodbye(hopefully for the last time, at least for a while), and once again slowly made her way through the tunnels that lead from her nest to the element.

Sein gave a cheerful greeting once Kuro reached the element, informing her that they had enough wind magic and were ready to go.

"Good, good," she said, a calm look in eyes. She peered into the cauldron, seeing that the various magics were almost done mixing, and were taking on a strange, greenish color. "Why is it green?"

"No clue." the orb said. "At least it's not brown." 

"Ugh, thanks a lot. Now I'll have the image of that stuck in my head the whole time we're flying to Niwen."

"Happy to be of service!" They dodged a lazy swing of her wing, giggling the whole time. "Alright then. You ready?"

She grabbed one edge of the cauldron lid, then fastened it onto the cauldron itself. "Ready as I'll ever be. Come on, let's get going."

* * *

"You have returned."

"No, Seir, we're figments of your imagination." Kuro leaned down to the golden orb, wicked intent filling her eyes. "Now, gimme your soul."

"Is _this_ what you two were doing while I was talking with Ori? Because if so, Kuro I approve."

"Did the two of you come here just to make fun of me, or does that pot have a purpose?"

Kuro scoffed with false indignation. "That is a _cauldron,_ not a pot. There's a difference, you know."

"What she means is that there's been an unexpected problem. Short version is that the Spirit Link merged Ori's memories with his light, so if we don't get the light he personally left in the tree, he's going to have some memory problems once he wakes up." Assuming, of course, that he hadn't woken up while they were gone. 

"I see. And I take it that there's something in the... cauldron, which will make that not a terrible idea?" Kuro glared down at them, but Seir only sighed at the look. "I'm right and you know it."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"GUYS," Sein shouted, startling both owl and orb alike. "Can we _please_ focus? This has been fun and all, but I just wanna get Ori's memories out, the magic sauce in, and go home so I can nap for a decade. Okay?" Both sheepishly nodded in agreement. "Good. Now, Kuro, help me get this lid off, and Seir, you just... I dunno, sit there and get ready." 

Transferring the newly dubbed 'magic sauce' in wasn't a problem in the slightest. It had already been seemingly magnetized to the Spirit Tree, and taking off the lid simply let it flow out and soak up into the ground, presumably going into the tree's roots. On the other talon, getting Ori's light out was the single most boring experience of Kuro's life. The two light orbs had to take out the light slowly, so as to not cause any apparent damage to it. Not that that made any sense to Kuro, how do you even hurt _light?_

Even at what the two claimed was at least near the fastest they could go, it still took several hours, and the sun had long since descended and given way to the night. "Done!" Sein exclaimed happily, the final trail of light going into the cauldron. Unlike with the magic sauce, Ori's light didn't fill even a quarter of the cauldron.

"FINALLY!" Both Sein and Seir jumped back with frightened screams, as Kuro raised her wings high above her. "In case you two haven't noticed, it became nighttime while you were doing that whole thing! I have been sitting here for hours!" It finally seemed to register to the two that the massive being casting an equally massive shadow over them was just Kuro.

"Sorry, sorry, _please_ never do that again!" Seir nodded vigorously at Sein's words, no doubt both being just as scared as Sein sounded. Kuro, however, didn't really care. She was _bored,_ and they had already stayed way longer than she had expected them to. "Seir, thank you again so much for being so cooperative; you have no idea how much this all means." The yellow ball simply did what Kuro guessed was _supposed_ to be a shrug, but she couldn't really tell. The golden ball returned to its perch within the branches of the young Spirit Tree, and Sein floated over to Kuro just as she finished reattaching the lid to the cauldron. "You ready to go?"

Kuro smiled softly, her irritation fading slightly. "Like never before, Sein."

And with that, the two rose up into the sky, just as they had only a few days earlier. This time, they were in even better spirits than they had been then, precious cargo in tow and thoughts of friends and family even stronger in their minds. But none of that could possibly compare to the reward they were heading for now.

_Home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Instead of collecting magic to replace the memories in the Niwenian Spirit Tree, there was originally going to be this big thing with the Spirit Link sort of backing up Ori's memories but the backup being broken so Kuro and Sein have to try and fix it. Then I realized that it sort of put Ori's whole existence into question and dropped it. Besides, I can find other ways to make Ori have an existential crisis!


	3. Catalyst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adjusting to something you think you shouldn't have anymore is a difficult thing to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was, in fact, far too easy.

The first time he woke up, he didn't really taste anything. Probably a good thing.

The first time he gained consciousness, he smelled... leaves. How nice.

The first thing he felt was wood against his back. It wasn't necessarily cool, and it wasn't truly warm either. It was just... wood.

The first thing he heard was a voice, and a calm one at that. It seemed like it was trying to get someone to do something. Maybe it was talking to him.

The first thing he saw was a small, glowing orb... that was somehow floating. What?

He had many of his first encounters with senses in that one moment, at that one place. He remembered them quite vividly; after all, they were his first moments in the world.

Then, at that very strange moment, in a place that he was suddenly sure he had been to before, he realized that not a single one of those moments had actually been a first.

* * *

...The orb was talking again, and he had no idea how it was doing it. It looked exhausted-why talk when you could rest? He closed his eyes again, following his own advice. Not for long though, as the orb slammed into his stomach before he could get comfortable, and it stayed there. Why? He didn't know it. Looking down to the orb that now sat on top of his lap-

_Ori_

...Ori opened his eyes once again, not entirely sure how much time had passed since he had closed them. The orb was now floating at the end of one of the large tree's branches, and he felt compelled to join it. Once he reached the tip of the branch, the orb floated a little farther out, towards another large tree in the distance. There was, however, a dark shape at the bottom of this one. If he squinted, it almost looked like some sort of bird. The orb floated back past him, and down the giant tree he was standing on. He followed it, since it seemed to have been responsible for him remembering his name. Maybe it could help him get back more of his memories. 

He hopped down the tree after the orb, and walked behind it across a large, grassy field. As he walked, he passed by several other creatures that looked a lot like him. He tried approaching some of them, but every time he did they would shake their head, take a step back, and point to the orb. If even what he could only guess to be his own kin wanted him to follow the ball, then he probably should.

The orb stopped at the top of a hill, circling around a strange stone structure that was emanating a pale gas. He stepped on to it, and-

_Power_

He began floating for some reason outside of his control, and he closed his eyes. A bizarre strength flowed into him, and it seemed to push something to the forefront of his mind.

When he landed, he _remembered._ Remembered the power he had, any way. He held his hand in the air, and concentrated. A small ball of light formed, then dissipated as soon as it had come. He would have to get used to his abilities again. Darn it.

"Hello?" He turned around, and his eyes widened. Was that..?

"Fil?" he croaked. His throat itched, and his voice sounded wrong, but that wasn't important. His friend was here. She smiled wide, and he fell into her embrace. "I... how are you alive? What's going on?" She shushed him, gently rubbing down the back of his head.

"Don't worry Ori, everything's going to make sense in time. But first, you need to eat and drink something, alright?" At her words, he suddenly became aware of just how hungry he was, and the dehydration explained how bad his throat was itching. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and let the older spirit pick him up.

* * *

"I still just... I don't understand any of this. None of this is supposed to-"

"Shh," Fil cooed. "What's supposed to be isn't important right now, only what is. Now, are you ready to keep going, or do you need a moment?"

"Can I have a second?" She nodded, and he laid down on his back. All of this was so confusing. He breathed in and out, trying to calm himself down. Once he succeeded, he sat back up and motion to the orb, which currently sat in Fil's lap. "What's that?"

"Who, Ori, not what." she chided. "And this is Sein, the Catalyst that works with the Spirit Tree."

"Catalyst?"

"A Catalyst is a creature of a certain type of magic which can strengthen other creatures magic. The Spirit Tree and Sein work together so that the Spirit Tree's light can reach all of Nibel."

"Neat." He looked to Sein with a smile on his face. "You're pretty cool, Sein." They squeaked slightly, and Fil laughed.

"We get it Ori, you're the sweetest creature ever and incapable of wrongdoing. Now come on." His face scrunched up; he hadn't said that. Fil and Sein were already moving though, so he'd just have to drop it.

"Where are we going? Somewhere important?"

"Yes Ori, somewhere very important. We're going to go and meet Kuro at the Ginso Tree."

"Kuro? Ginso Tree?"

Sein said something, and Fil hummed. "The Ginso Tree is that tree in the distance," she pointed to the tree he had seen earlier, "and Sein says you apparently already saw Kuro. She's a massive, purple and black owl." So that was the shape he saw earlier.

"Yeah, I saw her. But why are we meeting her, and why at the Ginso Tree?" Fil squirmed uncomfortably while Sein seemed to dim considerably.

"Something... happened there. We're sort of hoping that seeing Kuro at the Ginso Tree will get your memories of both her and the tree to return. Now hurry up; she's not going to wait forever."

* * *

His skin crawled, and his fur stood on end. She was _much_ bigger up close than she had been from far away. She towered over him, a more imposing figure than even the titanic tree they currently stood within. None of that was the reason for his discomfort though. Despite(or perhaps due to) her massive size, she gave off an air of protectiveness, which was the actual reason he was on edge. He knew that the protective feeling was for them, that she could and would protect them from any sort of danger that may somehow come their way; and it was this exactly that had him in his current mood, as a part of his brain practically _screamed_ that he couldn't let her do that, _couldn't let her get hurt again._ It was too weak though, and he couldn't figure out what his brain meant by 'again'.

That was, until a small droplet of water fell. She and Fil had been talking, probably about trying to fix his memories(he wasn't really paying attention), when a stray drop of water hit Kuro right on the wing. She shivered in discomfort, her feathers shivering slightly. Below them, he saw shorter, lighter feathers and-

_Water trickling down, green healing paste not quite fully covering the burns_

He chocked, as his heart sped up. Kuro and Fil turned to him in alarm, rushing over to try and help him, but he couldn't see them. All he could see was Kuro, lying on the ground of the Ginso Tree with water streaming over various parts of her body and green healing paste all over her, trying to cover all the flesh and feathers that had burned. "M-Mount Horu," he managed to get out between breaths, Kuro flinching back at his words. "It erupted when the element of heat was restored-too much energy. You thought-you thought we made it erupt on purpose. You chased us, and, and you almost got us." Kuro retracted in on herself, scrunching up to try and seem as small as possible. "But, but-you stopped. My mom was there, she-she convinced you that-that we didn't do it. On purpose, that we couldn't have." His heart was beating faster and faster, it felt like it was going to explode. "Then-then there was this-this glow, in the sky, and- and you got in front of it, and... and you protected us from it." He finally seemed to return to reality, his eyes focusing, and he looked up at Kuro. "You saved us."

Then, everything went dark.

* * *

When he woke, he found that he was still in the Ginso Tree, though he was now laying below what he could identify as the element of waters, Sein glowing bright and floating about it. All of a sudden, they stopped where they were and turned around, shooting down to where Ori was.

_'It is good to see that you have awakened blinded one.'_ The voice rang through his head like music, _'Your friends will be most pleased.'_ Sein hummed in agreement.

"Who are you?" Ori sat up and murmured, confused at how someone was speaking in his mind.

_'We are Ginso.'_ Ori's mouth hung open in shock. The tree was sentient? _'We are not the tree alone blinded one. Both the tree and the element make us whole.'_

"That's... insane," he murmured. "But I guess it's believable. Where is everyone?"

_'Your fellow Spirit Guardian has returned to the_ _Spirit Tree, and the great darkness has taken to patrolling our surroundings. We can call for her if you wish?'_

"No, no thank you," he said hurriedly. "I-I need some time. To think. A lot of stuff's happened, and I just... I feel like... I don't know. I just need some time to think." Ginso hummed, then went quiet. Sein floated to the side of Ori's head and looked at him, watching him silently. 

"You were there." They tilted slightly. "At Horu. When it erupted." They hesitated, then hummed. "I remember when Kuro attacked us. Both times. And I remember... I remember what happened. At her nest."

* * *

_As he floated upward and out of the crumbling Forlorn Ruins, Ori let out a breath of relief. It had been close, and the final rock suddenly loosening had nearly made him faint on the spot, but he was out. He was safe. Or so he initially thought, as he saw a large amount of sticks arranged in what seemed to be a massive nest in the cave he was gliding into. In fact, if he looked closer..._

_His breath hitched. "Hey, Sein?" The orb hummed quietly, and he had a bad feeling that they were thinking the same thing. "That's an owl egg, right?"_

_"Yes Ori, it would seem so." His blood felt like it ran cold, though that may have been due to the frigid air around him. "And I'm pretty sure Kuro is the only owl in the forest, which means..."_

_"This is Kuro's nest," he ended with a slight inhale. All of a sudden, he heard something rustling slightly. Turning to where he heard the sound come from, he noticed that the shadows seemed to somehow be larger in a certain area, and it almost seemed as if they were moving. Cautiously, he walked over to the strange spot, but stopped halfway when the darkness seemed to retreat away from him, and he heard the same sound again. Closer now, he was able to make out that it was some sort of whimper._

_"Ori, what are you doing?" He turned around, and saw that Sein had moved to join his side. All of a sudden, an idea popped into his head._

_"Sein, I need you to back up for a minute, okay?"_

_The orb froze in shock. "Ori, have you gone mad? We're in Kuro's nest, we can't split up!"_

_"I'm not asking to split up, I'm just asking you to back up a little. I think there might be someone over there, but they seem scared of light." He pointed over to the spot he heard the sound from, and Sein moved forward a bit, as if investigating. As they did this, the shadows retreated even further back, another whimper sounding out. Sein seemed to notice the movement this time, as they jolted to a halt. They turned slightly to Ori for a moment, then hesitantly backed up._

_Seeing his friend backing up, Ori moved slightly closer to the shadows, inching closer bit by bit. Eventually, he got close enough that he was able to reach out and try and touch the shadows. Sure enough, his hand met resistance, and the shadows flinched back at his touch, another, louder whimper sounding out._

_"Hey there," Ori said in a soothing tone. "Can you hear me? I want to help you." A part of the shadows seemed to shift at his words, and the rest quickly followed suit. As they moved however, Ori managed to make out what they were. Three absolutely exhausted looking owlets stood before him, seeming to cower in his presence. What disturbed him however, was the faint white lines that seemed to pulse on their bodies. Light, he realized. These creatures seemingly of darkness had light within them, and it seemed to be hurting them. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"_

_"Light..." one of the owlets murmured. "Hurt..." All right, so the light definitely was hurting them. But what could he do?_

_He turned around, looking to his companion. "Sein, I need some help. There are three owlets here, and it looks like there's light stuck in them. It looks like it's hurting them." The orb's constant slight shaking ceased almost immediately (which he could swear was becoming a trend for this place). "Do you know anything I could do to try and remove it?"_

_"...I guess you could try absorbing it." His eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to help. However, Sein wasn't done. "You shouldn't though. You might accidentally absorb some of their darkness, and that could be extremely dangerous to both you and them." His mouth tightened to a scowl._

_"Do we have any other options?"_

_"Not that I can think of..."_

_"Then I have to at least try."_

_"Wh-Ori, no! I just said it's dangerous and you're doing it anyway?"_

_His scowl deepened. "I have to, Sein. If I don't they're practically guaranteed to die a slow, painful death. I have to try Sein." Hearing the sheer conviction in his voice, they backed up with what seemed to be small nod._

_Ori turned back around to the owlets. "You guys heard that yeah?" The farthest owlet gave a small sound of conformation. "Alright then, you ready?" All of the owlets nodded, and Ori took a deep breath. He spread his arms out and willed the light to come to him. There was very little compared to the ancestral trees, yet still enough that he could only imagine how much pain the owlets must have been in. It took mere seconds, and he didn't really feel any stronger._

_And then, the memories hit._

_Getting some of a spirit's memories wasn't unusual when he absorbed an ancestral tree's light, yet this was different. Instead of the owlet's memories, he saw what the light had done. He watched as it crawled up the mountainside, as it spilled into the nest._

_He watched in horror as it washed over the owlets._

_Once it was over, he blinked. This was reality, he told himself, not a memory. But that had happened, and he had a guess as to when it happened. He and the Spirit Tree were going to have a long talk once this was all over._

_As his mind stopped reeling and grounded itself back into reality, he noticed that the nest had darkened considerably. He turned around and looked up, seeing the imposing figure of Kuro towering over him. She glared down at him, but he remained unshaken. Looking around, he noticed that Sein was firmly grasped in one of her talons, shaking with fear. Looking back up to her, he returned her look with a glare that he hoped would shake her even the slightest, though he unluckily failed._

_"What have you done to my children?" she murmured, turning her gaze to the now unconscious owlets._

_"I absorbed the light from their bodies. The pain it was causing them should be gone now." Kuro returned her gaze to him, her glare further hardening._

_"You have not harmed them? Their minds remain intact?"_

_Ori laughed bitterly. "My mother didn't raise a monster."_

_Kuro blinked, then seemed to look off into the distance. "Your mother."_

_"She died to starvation recently. It's the whole reason I ended up going on this adventure."_

_Kuro tilted her head and looked back down on the spirit guardian. Slowly, she opened her talon and released Sein. They immediately zipped over to Ori, who met them halfway and hugged them tight. Before they could get a word in edgewise, he hissed to them. "Once we're out of here, you and I are going to have a talk." Hesitantly, they gave a quiet sound of conformation, before shifting closer into his hug._

_"It would seem I was wrong." Ori's head snapped upward at Kuro's words. Her eyes seemed to have lost some of the menacing glow they had held. "I had believed the light incapable of empathy._

_"It might be."_

_Sein turned up to him, shocked. Kuro seemed surprised as well, though she also seemed curious. "If so, then how is your behavior explained?"_

_"I wasn't raised by the Spirit Tree. My mother and I lived in Swallow's Nest." A quiet hum reverberated out of Kuro's beak, as she turned again to the horizon, losing herself once more in her thoughts._

_For a moment, the nest was quiet, no sounds but the whistling winds cutting through the silence. Kuro turned downward, looking Ori in the eye. "You intend to free the elements of their corruption, correct?"_

_"Yes miss, we do."_

_Kuro's eyes seemed to calm even further, though some of their fury still remained. "I will not impede your journey. However, I expect a discussion on what has occurred once you have cleansed the forest of its' blindness." Ori nodded without hesitance, glad that he wouldn't have to worry about the owl attacking them. Kuro looked downward to her resting children, walking over to them and lowering herself down to surround them in her large feathered mass. Her eyes closed, their rage being temporarily hidden. "The ledge on the other side will lead down to near the entrance of the Forlorn Ruins. Now leave us."_

_Following her instructions, Ori walked to the other end of the nest and looked downward. There was nothing but clouds and sharp rocks, and he briefly wondered if Kuro was lying. However, he had seen her rage settling down, and Kuro didn't seem like the kind of individual to try and kill someone who just saved her children. Deciding to trust the owl, he took a running start and jumped off the ledge, him and Sein both falling into the clouds below._

* * *

"...So you can understand me again?" He nodded, and Sein sighed. "Well that's good. I'm sorry that was what had to make you remember." He just shrugged indifferently.

"Can we... can we go to Swallow's Nest? I... I know I have a mom. I know that now. But... I don't know... really anything about her. I know that... she saved us from Kuro's hate. When she thought we made Horu erupt on purpose. My mom protected us, and I know that, but... I also know she had died. I don't know how she came back to life. I-I barely know anything anymore." His heart was beating faster again, and the start of tears prickled at the corners of his eyes. "I... I wanna see her. I want my memories back, Sein."

"Then we'll get them back," they said softly. "I'll help you get them back, no matter what. I promise." They floated down so they were at his eye-level. "Now, do you want to go now, or do you want to rest more first?"

He didn't even need time to think. "I wanna go now. I want-I want to be me again."

"Alright, Ori. Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fun facts, because why not:  
> The flashback scene in Kuro's Nest was originally going to be it's own one shot(hence the length), but I figured it would work better as just a part of this fic.  
> Ginso... I just thought the concept was cool. I'll probably do something with them. Someday. Probably.  
> Also, I'm pretty sure someone else did the "memories from ancestral trees" thing before me, but I'm not sure who.


	4. Figure it out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naru is a great mom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how amnesiacs actually get their memories back please don't take this as a guide on how to help others if they get amnesia.

"And that's what's happened so far."

Naru let out a long-held breath. There were dried tears on her face - some of happiness from seeing her child alive, some of sadness from hearing of his memory issues. Now however, her eyes were clear, and she was ready to help her son heal.

"Well, that's quite the story. Now, I assume that you've run out of ideas on how to get his memories back, so you need my help?"

"We came mostly because Ori asked to... but yeah partially that too." She smiled softly, wondering if Sein was ever going to realize that they didn't have to be afraid of asking for help.

"Well then, who would I be to refuse?" She looked down to Ori(who she was currently holding in her arms). "First of all, what is it like regaining your memories? Do they sort of trickle in, or do they sort of just flash into your mind?"

"They just flash in, like-one second they're not there, then the next second I just... know stuff."

"Alright then, what did you remember, and what sort of situation were you in each time it happened? Where were you, who was there, what were they doing, did you see, smell, or feel anything that stood out over everything else?"

"Uh, the first time was at the Spirit Tree. I was trying to relax, then Sein slammed into my stomach for _some_ reason."

"I thought you were dying!"

"Why would I have been dying?"

"I don't know, I just thought you were!"

"Ori, please continue." They could get lost in the past later.

"Right, well after Sein slammed into me, I looked down at them in my lap, then I just... remembered my name." Well, that could have been a memory of dozens of moments, so that didn't help much.

"Could you move onto the next one, please?"

"Okay, the second time was... at the Spirit Well, the one in front of the Spirit Tree, on top of the hill. I walked on to it and started... I dunno, I guess absorbing the light from it? Then all of a sudden I remembered all the powers I had absorbed, and all the Spirit Guardians that had been tied to the Ancestral Trees I absorbed the powers from." That was more useful for her, but not by much.

"And you said there was one more?"

"Yeah, the last one was at the Ginso Tree. Fil was talking with Kuro, and a drop of water hit Kuro on the wing. She shivered, and when she did, her feathers moved a little, and I saw lighter feathers and scars underneath. I remembered all the times we met her during our journey." 

Well, that would be useful. First things first, though. "Alright. Based off all that you said, what can we say caused it?" This was important; if would help her gauge just how broadly they were looking at the problem. 

"Two times it was seeing something familiar, and one time was doing something familiar," Ori said, "Right?"

"Well, the time with Kuro was definitely caused by seeing something familiar. The time in the Spirit Tree, however, could have been caused by _feeling_ something familiar, since Sein was in your lap. Or, it could have been a combination of the both. And with the Spirit Well, it could have not been doing something familiar, but maybe instead just the fact that you were absorbing light at all." Her lips turned up a little more, and she raised a finger. "Therefore, the only thing we _know_ is capable of restoring your memories is seeing something familiar. Also, it seems like the more impact that the memories associated with the events had on you, the more memories it tends to give you."

Sein hummed a little, slowly weaving around the room. "So... we want to go to places where Ori saw stuff that had a big impact on him? Well then, that leaves plenty of options. Where should we start?"

The three sat there for a while, going back and forth between different ideas. Ori insisted that, since two of the three events had involved trees, maybe they should go somewhere with a lot of trees. Sein reminded him that they were in a forest and literally half the place could be described as 'having a lot of trees'. Instead, they suggested going to Mount Horu, since that had been the very end of their journey. Ori pointed out that he had already remembered the most important part of their experience with Mount Horu, so everything else probably wouldn't give him much, or at least much useful. Naru mostly just let the two talk it out between each other, sometimes pointing out flaws in their ideas. Eventually, Gumo returned from... wherever he had been. He sat down next to Naru, looking at Sein and Ori argue, seemingly unfazed by the apparent revival of the Spirit Guardian. "How long have they been at it for?"

"Almost thirty minutes now," she whispered. "I'm tempted to tell them I know a great spot to go." One of Ori's ears twitched, and his head twirled to look at his mom.

"What do you me- oh, hi there, um..."

He chuckled. "Gumo. Kuro told me about your little memory problem; once we've gone where your mom wants to go, I know another place that might help." 

Ori jumped up, bouncing up and down on his feet. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" The two older adults laughed at his antics, and Sein swirled around his head, chiding him for his impatience.

"Calm down Ori, calm down. It's just outside, come on." He looked confused at what she meant, and only looked more confused when she picked him up and put him on her shoulders. "Just let me carry you, alright? It's part of the whole thing."

She walked out of the cave into the midday sun, Gumo and Sein trailing slightly behind them. She approached a tree which had a large 'X' carved into it, and shook it, causing a few berries to fall out. She caught one in her right hand, and got ready to throw it upward. "Try and catch it in your mouth." She tossed it upward, and moments before she knew it would have fallen in his mouth, he tensed up. The berry bounced off his face, yet he seemed unfazed. Naru took Ori off her shoulders and set him on the ground, Gumo and Sein crowding around her, looking at the frozen Spirit Guardian. "Ori?"

"Is he okay?" Sein looked between Ori and Naru, their humming slowly increasing in pitch. "He's okay, right? Right?" Pinpricks of tears were beginning to form in the corners of Ori's eyes, and his breathing seemed to be picking up. Before it could get too bad though, it suddenly stopped, and Ori was thrown back into the conscious world with several sharp inhales and a coughing fit. Naru wrapped him up in her arms, and was elated when he immediately hugged back.

"Mama..." He whimpered, the tears growing at a rapid pace. His body shuddered, and Naru could practically feel his very soul quaking. "Mama..."

She cooed quietly, rubbing his back as he began to sob. "Don't worry Ori. Everything's going to be okay." She threw a pointed look to Gumo and Sein, and the two joined the hug, Sein settling on Ori's shoulder and Gumo wrapping his arms around both Ori and Naru. "We're all here for you Ori. Everything's going to be better."

"It's okay to cry," the last of the Gumon said. "So feel free to just let it out." Sein didn't say anything, only let their hum calm to a slow, steady pace.

And it was then, on that warm day in Swallow's Nest, that Ori of the Blind Forest, hero of Nibel and Niwen, returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's pretty short, and it doesn't quite reach the 10000 character minimum I usually aim for, but I honestly like it as is. Still, if there's anything unclear or that you think needs to be improved, please let me know.


	5. Identity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who we are is important.

It had been twenty days since Ori remembered his mother.

In that time, much had happened. At Naru's insistence, Ori and Sein had taken a second journey around Nibel, though with Kuro as a chaperone this time. They had traveled everywhere that they could reach, from the highest peaks of Sorrow Pass to the darkest corners of the Black Root Burrows. He had managed to regain many of his lost memories in the process; he knew, however, that he would likely never recall all of his lost memories. And yet, this didn't bother him.

"Seriously? It doesn't scare you or unnerve you or whatever?"

"Not really." Ori and Sein sat halfway up a tree in the Thornfelt Swamp, watching several young Spirit Guardians splash around in the lakes below. "I've already gotten back plenty of my memories of Nibel, and just seeing Ku gave me back so many memories of Niwen. I'm not whole yet, and I know that, but I am whole enough to feel like I'm me."

"Well, if you feel fine I guess there's not much reason for me to complain." Sein moved themself into Ori's lap, shifting around a little until they were comfortable. "Still, I can't help but worry."

"Hmmm." He leaned forward and squinted down at the lakes below him, and a smirk slowly grew on his face. "Maybe you just need to think it out over a good bath."

"What are you talking - _ORI WHY!"_ He grabbed onto Sein and jumped off the tree towards the water below. The spirits below looked up at the scream, then shrieked and swam for cover when they saw their older sibling hurtling downward. Ori landed in the water with a gigantic splash, soaking himself, Sein, and the many spirits who hadn't managed to paddle away in time. Sein shot out of Ori's grasp and the water, giving a pulse of light to dry off quickly. _"What the heck Ori?"_ The spirit guardian didn't respond, as he was too busy laughing his heart out. 

His laughing was stopped, however, by one of the young spirits splashing water onto him. "Get him!" All of the Spirit Guardians began converging on Ori, some grabbing hold of him to keep him still while the rest started splashing him with all that their little hearts could muster.

Meanwhile, a few figures approached the shore of the lake. Naru hummed a tune while she walked, lightly swinging the picnic baskets in her hands. "I hope they haven't already tired themselves out; there still so much daylight left!"

"Well, even if they are, it's still a beautiful day to just relax." Kuro slowly walked alongside the others, a large wicker basket around her neck. It rustled slightly, and one of her kids, Tok, stuck his head out.

"Are we there yet?"

"Yes Tok, we are, in fact, there yet." He cheered, the other three owlets popping out of the basket along with him and running off to the lake. "Be careful! Don't go too deep! Make sure-"

"YES MOTHER!" they all shouted back at once, splashing into the water to join the Spirit Guardians in harassing Ori.

Kuro sighed and shook her head. "One of these days, they're going to give me a heart attack."

Gumo chuckled, both of his picnic baskets swaying while he walked. "You really need to give them a break Kuro; they're not going to be kids forever."

"I know, I know. I just want to make sure they're ready for the world."

"That's understandable," Naru said. "But maybe giving them more space is just what they need to be ready for the world."

"Oh, whatever. Let's just put this stuff down so I can go make sure the kids don't drown each other on accident."

The three put down all of their baskets, all three needing to work together in order to get the large basket over Kuro's head. The owl rose up into the air and lazily floated over to the small rock island in the middle of the lake, it sinking under her weight until her legs were almost half submerged. She plucked Ori out of the water and flipped him up onto the top of her head. The young guardians and the owlets whined at the loss of their target, while Ori sighed in relief and Sein floated over to Kuro. "How was the trip over?"

"Quite pleasant," she said. "We really should do that more often."

"Well, we should hopefully be able to, since Ori isn't going off on adventures in other lands and getting _turned into a tree."_ He stuck his tongue out at Sein, then immediately regretted his choice of taunting method when one of the little spirits threw a condensed ball of water and nailed him in the back of the head. "But yeah, thank you for coming. It'll be good for the little punks to be exposed to more species than just their own."

"You'd know plenty about that, wouldn't you you stinky loner?." Ori yelped as Kuro flicked her head back and he careened back into the water. The other spirit guardians promptly seized the opportunity and jumped on him to resume their splashing, this time assisted by the four owlets.

"You talk big for such a tiny fool!" Ori probably would have thrown back some sort of witty retort, had he not been struggling to stay above the water as seemingly all of the spirits present started climbing on top of him. "Children, please do not drown Ori. I know he'll come back, but if that happens, Naru probably won't let you have any of the delicious food we brought." The spirits all looked to Kuro in unison, then got off of Ori and formed a circle around Kuro, looking up to her with big, pleading eyes. "Wow. That was both the most adorable and terrifying thing I've ever seen."

"Yeah, they get like that when someone mentions food." As if on cue, all of the spirits turned to Ori and moved their circle to instead encapsulate him. "See?"

"Eerie," she muttered. "Anyways, the foods on the shore, not out here." The little spirits sprung into motion, looking around for which part of the shore the food was at. One spotted Naru and Gumo setting up the picnic, and let out a loud squeak before swimming towards them as fast as they could. All of the other spirits noticed what their sibling was doing, and quickly followed suit. 

"What in the world..." Gumo looked around at the several soaked spirits that were now climbing their way out of the water and up to the picnic. "It's like a wave of tiny children."

"And here's the food!" The spirits swarmed the big wicker basket Kuro had been carrying, each one falling in empty-handed and coming out with as many fruits, nuts, and vegetables as their tiny arms could carry. Within just a couple of minutes it had been fully emptied, and all of the little spirits had begun eating. "Well, that's all of them taken care of."

Kuro was now sitting down with her kids, eating bugs and worms that had been in two of the small baskets. "And just as well. I wasn't kidding about the whole 'accidentally drowning each other' thing; they nearly got Ori."

"Only because you threw me back into the lake!"

"You shouldn't have called me a stinky loner."

"Ori, that's not a nice thing to say." Ori's ears flattened at his mother's scolding.

"I'm sorry Kuro."

"Apology accepted. Now hurry up and eat your food before the little ones do!" 

Ori yelped and grabbed one of the small baskets right as one of the young spirits tried to open it. "No, that's our food! You guys already have yours!" The little spirit tried to grab the basket out of his hands, but he raised it over his head and tried to push the little spirit away with his foot. "Seriously, I can still see the berry juice stains around your mouth!"

Naru came over and plucked the basket out of Ori's hands, and gave him the other remaining basket. "That one is for you and Sein to share, alright?" He nodded, and his former pursuer instead took to following Naru.

Ori went over to the edge of the shore, where Sein was sitting quietly in the dirt. "Hey. Naru said this one is for you and me." They hummed quietly and rose up, looking to him as he opened the basket. Upon looking inside, he noticed quite the problem: the only thing inside was a single bottle of liquid light. "Hey mom, you're sure that ours was fully packed, right?"

For some reason, Naru had a small smirk on her face when he turned towards her. "I'm quite certain."

He sighed and shook his head, looking back to Sein, who had looked into the basket while Ori had turned to his mother. Upon seeing the basket's contents, they suddenly went completely silent, and dimmed and brightened several times. "Are you okay Sein?"

"Yes!" Their glow steadied out, though their voice seemed a little higher pitched to him. "You know, since I don't have to eat and there's not much here, you should just have it, okay?"

"Are you sure? I can probably-"

"Yes! I'm sure!" Sein's glow wavered again, and Ori was getting more concerned by the second. "Seriously Ori, I'm fine. Just eat it, okay?" He looked to them for a moment, before deciding something. He chugged down almost half the bottle in a few seconds, then shut his eyes and shuddered. That felt unpleasant. "Here," he held out what remained of the bottle to Sein, "now we don't have to worry about taking turns!" 

Back with the rest of the picnickers, Naru, Gumo and Kuro were trying their best not to laugh at Ori's obliviousness. Naru managed to calm down for long enough to give Sein a thumbs up, then returned to covering her mouth in her best attempt at not laughing.

"Seriously, Ori? Seriously?" He looked at them, incredibly confused by what the problem was. "Oh, whatever. Give me that." He smiled again and placed the bottle on the ground, letting Sein start to absorb the light within. 

"Oh my word," Naru had calmed down to the point of uncontrollable smiling, and was starting to actually eat her food. "Not what I had planned, but I would say that was a success."

Gumo sighed and kept eating his food, looking over to the two on the edge of the lake. "I guess so. Still, at this rate, they're never going to get _anywhere_ with him."

"Oh, just give them some time," Kuro said, a wicked glint in her eyes. "I'm sure that they'll get _some_ level of bravery. One of these days. Probably."

The four owlets looked between the adults, wondering what the heck was going on. "They're talking about Ori and Sein, right?" Ku asked.

Tok bopped her on the head with his wing. "Of course they are! This happens _every time_ we go on a picnic!"

"Children?" The owlets looked up to their mother, who was staring at them with a mischievous look. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing!" they all chorused, and Kuro snickered. They _still_ thought she couldn't hear them from _right next to them?_

"Alright, alright," Gumo sighed. "Everyone, just finish your food already. We can tease Sein and Ori once we get home." Naru and Kuro both sighed, but returned to their food.

After all, he was right. There would be _plenty_ more time to make fun of the two. The little spirits, who had watched the entire thing, would make sure of it.

* * *

It was nighttime, and Ori and Sein were walking through the Hollow Grove with all of the young spirits, returning to the Spirit Tree after the picnic earlier that day.

"Another successful picnic!"

"Ori, what the heck makes a picnic 'successful'?"

He turned around to Sein, and crossed his arms together. "A picnic is successful if everyone has fun!" He suddenly frowned, a look of worry coming across his face. "Wait, did you not have fun?" The orb panicked at his sad expression.

"No no no, Ori, no. I had plenty of fun, I just didn't understand what you meant." The spirit sighed, and the smile returned to his face. Good, they thought, he deserved to be happy.

Ori looked at them for a moment, judging whether they were telling the truth or not. "Well, alright. Though, if we're having a picnic and you're not having fun, tell me!"

"Alright Ori. I will."

They soon reached the clearing before the Spirit Tree, and the little spirits ran up to their father, greeting him with happy squeaks and cries. Ori made to stop at the edge of the clearing, intending to say goodbye to Sein then go home. His plans were interrupted, however, as each of his hands were grabbed by two of the spirits. They started to tug at his hands, and he figured that he could probably spare a few minutes, so he let them drag him away, Sein tailing close behind. They brought them to in between two of the Spirit Tree's roots, where the rest of the young spirits had gathered, and were now watching them intently.

Ori was brought to the center of the ominous gathering, where the two spirits left into the crowd. "Hey guys, what's up? Did you want to do something?" A small gap opened in the group, and a spirit came forward holding a tiny flower crown. "Aww, is that for me?"

Sein, on the other hand, had a feeling from the crown's size that it was meant for someone else entirely-and they were right. The small spirit shoved the crown into Ori's hands, turned him towards Sein, and pushed him towards them. The entire crowd suddenly surged forward, leaving no route for him to leave. "Umm, is something wrong?"

"It would seem they wish for you to give it to Sein." The voice of the Spirit Tree rumbled through the clearing, and all of the little spirits nodded.

"Oh! Well then, Sein?" The orb sighed, resigned to being endlessly teased by literally everyone in the forest. They lowered themself to Ori's chest level, and moved slightly closer to him. He carefully set the crown down on top of them, and stepped back. "There! You look beautiful." The crowd of spirits started dancing around. "What in the world..."

"Don't question it," they sighed. "Thank you very much for having us all over to your picnic. It was really nice."

"No problem! See you tomorrow?"

"Definitely. Now go home before Naru gets mad at you!" And, they thought, before she gets any more ammunition for teasing. Ori laughed and ran through the crowd, directly towards Swallow's Nest.

"...So."

They sighed _again_ and turned to the Spirit Tree. "You put them up to this, didn't you?"

The tree laughed, deep and calm. "No, Sein. This was all their idea. I do, however, believe that it was a good idea. Ori is good for you."

"You just say that because he's your son." The tree remained silent, and Sein took a moment to collect their thoughts. "...Thank you, Kytas. I'm sorry I've been such a coward."

"You are not a coward, Sein. You are merely nervous, and I cannot fault you for that. Go about this at whatever pace makes you comfortable."

They hummed, and flew up to their perch within the Spirit Tree's branches to settle in for the night. At the same time, Ori had finished his run home, and jumped into his nest, saying goodnight to Naru and Gumo. Even faraway above the Forlorn Ruins, Kuro curled around her four children, keeping them warm from the cold of the night. 

The moon rose higher into the sky, the forest quiet under its veil. And within the soft sounds of the night, Nibel rested.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Naru, bringer of picnic time chaos, destroyer of Sein's dignity.  
> This final chapter was meant to show off the core parts of some of the character's "identity" within this series. I do know, however, that it was pretty ambitious to try and give so many characters a detailed personality while not making the chapter too long or making anything confusing. So if you have any questions, or any suggestions for stuff I could do to improve the chapter or the story in general, please let me know.


End file.
